A craniotomy involves the surgical removal of a section of bone from the skull to create an opening for accessing and operating on the underlying tissue. When the operation is complete, the removed bone (“bone flap”) is placed back within the opening and is reattached to the skull.
Instruments designed to perform the craniotomy are called craniotomes. Craniotomes typically include a cutting bit with a footplate disposed axially perpendicular to the cutting bit. The footplate protects the underlying tissue from contacting the cutting bit when a cut is made perpendicular to the surface of the skull. However, a problem arises when a cut is made at an angle relative to the surface of the skull because the underlying tissue can contact the cutting bit, causing damage to the tissue. Additionally, a perpendicular cut also risks damage to the underlying tissue because the bone flap can become recessed and contact the underlying tissue.
Reattachment of the bone flap is typically accomplished using titanium plates that are placed on the surface of the skull and the surface of the bone flap, spanning the distance therebetween. These plates are affixed to the bone using screws that extend perpendicular to the surface of the skull. These plating systems require a large number of components to be combined to reattach the bone flap. Additionally, current plating systems cause cosmetic defects in the skin overlying the plate because the skin is visibly raised. Further, the plating systems can increase the amount of pain and trauma experienced by the patient, prolong the duration of the surgical procedure, lead to unnecessary and avoidable scarring, erode the overlying skin, increase the risk of infection, and inconvenience the patient with time-consuming return visits to the surgeon to have the fixation means removed.
Thus, it would be desirable to develop a system that overcomes the problems and limitations associated with procedures and devices used in traditional craniotomies.